tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327360722018-03-05T20:15:28.911-07:00Lady of LongbournI sign every blog with 'To God be all glory.' I mean that. What I write here, I try to remind myself, however controversial or light-hearted, is written to bring glory to my awesome God, and His incarnate Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.Lisa of Longbournhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497065661948900794noreply@blogger.comBlogger950125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32736072.post-78779204140829578402018-01-28T17:43:00.002-07:002018-01-28T17:43:36.026-07:00Priority
I had an emotional crisis a while back. Not a breakdown or anything
hospital-worthy. Something
confidant-worthy. Due to circumstances,
accessing a confidant was trickier than normal.
It struck me, for the first time in this way, that there is no one in my
life to whom I ought to be a priority. My
friends ought to make their own spouses and children their priorities. I still don’t have a Lisa of Longbournhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497065661948900794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32736072.post-16415397444895890042018-01-28T17:34:00.000-07:002018-01-28T17:34:02.289-07:00Answer Etymology
I confess to being annoyed that I have to use a w when I
write “answer”. I don’t have to use one
when I pronounce it! I feel the same way
about that r in “February” and the entire spelling versus pronunciation of “Wednesday”
is ridiculous, especially in light of it being the day named for the Norse god
Marvel and Anthony Hopkins delivered to us as Odin (I guess he’s known as Wodan
in some Lisa of Longbournhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497065661948900794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32736072.post-74970738851670692762018-01-21T08:51:00.001-07:002018-01-21T09:08:41.302-07:00I Thought I Saw A Snowflake Fall...
It was dark.
I was driving.
I was lonely;
And I thought I saw a snowflake fall…
It was quiet.
I was crying.
I was cold;
And I thought I saw a snowflake fall…
It was winter.
I was wond’ring who I was.
It was heavy;
And I thought I saw a snowflake fall…
To God be all glory.
Lisa of Longbournhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497065661948900794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32736072.post-9792523237637810122017-10-22T14:41:00.000-06:002017-10-22T14:41:51.294-06:00DIY Leg Warmers, Boot Socks & Boot CuffsA few years ago I did some fun research on Pinterest for making your own leg warmers and boot cuffs. The problem was that I LOVE wide leg pants, and basically had nothing with which to wear such accessories. Fortunately I used Pinterest to make a board with my inspiring research.
Last year I acquired some thick, fleece lined leggings, mostly to add an extra warm layer under anything all Lisa of Longbournhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497065661948900794noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32736072.post-56332928125319603282017-10-20T13:06:00.000-06:002017-10-20T13:09:04.168-06:00Exhortation in Church Gatherings
"Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that
you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to
walk and to please God;"
- 1 Thessalonians 4:1
One of my friends says that he, who has been in church all
his life and saved for most of it, always tries to pay attention to gospel
presentations during sermons, because it is so good to be remindedLisa of Longbournhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497065661948900794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32736072.post-86633279921680531502017-09-25T20:29:00.000-06:002017-09-25T20:29:26.308-06:00Honor, Anthems, and Boycotts
Ok, so there’s this thing going on in the NFL, a gesture of disapprobation for
something some players view as a national problem. The phenomenon is actually in other sports,
too. I’ve seen it in the WNBA, and heard
quotes from an NBA player in support of the right to protest. It takes the form of kneeling during the national anthem or standing with arms linked as
an expression of solidarity Lisa of Longbournhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497065661948900794noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32736072.post-60107460155681835052017-09-25T17:23:00.000-06:002017-09-25T17:23:04.521-06:00Ethnic PrivilegeFrequently when I'm
reading/hearing about white privilege and minority cultures, I struggle to
understand. One reason I think this is true is because I don't relate to a lot
of this dominant white culture that I'm supposed to be benefiting from. On the
other hand, I don't feel the need to be ashamed of liking hamburgers and pizza,
folk music and blue jeans - if those are included in my white Lisa of Longbournhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497065661948900794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32736072.post-34622051152090191562017-09-24T17:50:00.004-06:002017-09-24T17:50:40.280-06:00Instructions for Awana Game Time
For a few years, I was an Awana game director. I wrote the following to teach leaders what to do during Game Time at our beginning-of-the-year training meeting. We even acted out some of the things!
Cubbies:
Cubbie leaders, you are needed in the gym or play area with
the kids. As they enter the play area,
they will all start with jumping jacks, until all the clubbers are
present. Then Lisa of Longbournhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497065661948900794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32736072.post-80689833569183656782017-09-24T17:25:00.002-06:002017-09-24T17:51:44.498-06:00Entertaining LittlesA couple years ago, a friend asked me to compile things I'd learned about keeping preschoolers busy. I've been babysitting for about 20 years now, but I was still surprised at all the things I was able to write down. I'm sharing them here in case you are looking for inspiration.
Have a
ball or object that you pass back and forth. Before you pass, you have to
say something in a list: a Lisa of Longbournhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497065661948900794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32736072.post-21283916202309075012017-08-28T16:05:00.000-06:002017-08-28T16:05:51.967-06:00Fun
I bowl. I go to Elitch's. I jump on trampolines. I play
board games. I wear formal or old-fashioned outfits to stores and parks and
libraries. I even dance on occasion. Not because I have to. Because I want to.
And because I can. I don't have to spend most of my time
keeping a house or supporting a family or choosing homeschool curriculum. I also don’t get to do those family-oriented
thingsLisa of Longbournhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497065661948900794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32736072.post-81346289411533128842017-08-02T20:23:00.000-06:002017-08-02T20:23:23.358-06:00Charley Horse
You know that awful feeling when your foot cramps up? The instinct is absolutely to freeze, tense,
since moving made it start hurting. But
the right thing to do, to end the cramp quickly, is to stretch.
There are other things like this in life, things where being
tense and resisting what is happening are the worst things you can do.
Earlier today one of our family cats, a specimen soLisa of Longbournhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497065661948900794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32736072.post-50526077326822768742017-06-29T13:30:00.003-06:002017-06-29T14:05:57.879-06:00Identity in Moana
I watched Moana for the first time yesterday. I'm kind of
ambivalent about it, since I can think of some good and some bad messages, and as
a 32-year-old, wasn't all that captivated by the story (though I appreciated
the quality of the animation).
Maybe because the setting is more tribal and not so Western, and maybe because
of Disney’s motif of sort of refuting some of its earlier fairy Lisa of Longbournhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497065661948900794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32736072.post-76744460979824155892017-06-28T05:03:00.001-06:002017-06-28T05:03:13.257-06:00Ask Personal Questions
I’ve read a lot of articles that say, “Don’t ask.” They’ll be about illness, infertility,
divorce. “It’s personal,” they remind
us, “so mind your own business.”
Today I was in a woman’s house. I don’t know her. I have talked to her a couple of times. I will be doing some work for her. I suppose I broke the rules, because after
she’d told me a little about her life, raising two little Lisa of Longbournhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497065661948900794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32736072.post-65177391575649802002017-05-24T14:40:00.002-06:002017-05-24T14:40:51.365-06:00Playing Cards for Teaching Math
Once when I was babysitting, I threw a deck of cards on the
floor. Then I sent the various children
on scavenger hunts. The younger ones
were sent for colors or shapes. Then I
could send some kids for certain numbers, or odd numbers, or even numbers. The siblings who were old enough to know
addition or subtraction could be sent for “two cards that add to nine”, or “three
cards that add to Lisa of Longbournhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497065661948900794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32736072.post-39202289230249137372017-05-22T12:23:00.006-06:002017-05-22T12:23:58.357-06:00Stationary versus Stationery
I was writing the word "stationary" the other day, and wondering like always whether I was spelling the correct word. Then I had a brilliant idea: look up its etymology. I made a guess at the etymology of the
paper kind, that its root is "stationer" and that it came from the note paper, schedule books, tickets that train station clerks used. I tried to think whether "-ary" can be a suffix Lisa of Longbournhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497065661948900794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32736072.post-11842759006558841662017-03-09T16:11:00.000-07:002017-03-09T16:11:14.193-07:00Falsely So Called
Hebrews says, "Marriage is honorable among all, and the
bed undefiled..." In the United States, our legal system calls things
"marriage" that the Bible most certainly would not. But if we only
looked at that one verse from Hebrews, we could believe that the thing called
marriage that isn't, is "honorable". We could pull in other teachings
about marriage and how great it is and what it means Lisa of Longbournhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497065661948900794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32736072.post-14773171462081349092017-01-14T20:14:00.000-07:002017-01-14T20:14:24.041-07:00Should You Homeschool?
I spent some time
recently thinking about how I would help someone evaluate whether public school
or homeschool is better for their family, especially coming from a perspective,
like most American Christians do, of public school being normal. In this I don’t want to be attacking public
school or defending homeschool, but this article is informed by many of my
reasons for preferring homeschool.Lisa of Longbournhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497065661948900794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32736072.post-28506253263396677052016-12-26T14:06:00.003-07:002016-12-26T14:06:17.245-07:00Christmas Animal Etymologies
Donkey – Who
hasn’t heard of Mary riding into Bethlehem
on a donkey? Well, before the late
1700’s, no one had. This word entered
our language as slang (ironic since it replaced the word ass, which has come to have quite the list of its own slang
definitions since). Donkey is perhaps a diminutive (smaller or junior version) term for
a dun, a small horse. The word dun is an old color word Lisa of Longbournhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497065661948900794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32736072.post-9895285868369090572016-11-24T23:36:00.002-07:002016-11-24T23:55:26.903-07:00Chocolate Custard Cheesecake
A while back I posted a recipe for a chocolate custard
cheesecake dip. Since then, I’ve been working on modifying the recipe to
be stiff enough to actually be a cheesecake, and this Thanksgiving, I think
I’ve got it!
My favorite part, besides the taste, is that it is no-bake
(after the crust is made), so no complicated baking regimens to prevent cake
from cracking or browning.
Chocolate Lisa of Longbournhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497065661948900794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32736072.post-38507891921456854632016-10-17T03:11:00.000-06:002016-10-17T03:11:07.565-06:00Peace Wielder
My brother and I were talking tonight, about a painting I
saw, called “The Peacemaker”.
Peacemaking seems to me to be an art that is rare, one that I am
unfamiliar with, and that when my friends and I pursue it, we're begging God to
lead us in, because we're clueless.
We’re making these things up as we go, having few examples to
follow.
I want to learn about peacemaking. I want to help Lisa of Longbournhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497065661948900794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32736072.post-59159333132146293062016-10-16T13:51:00.001-06:002016-10-16T16:25:13.710-06:00Five Presidential Candidates More Worthy of Consideration
The following are not
endorsements, but according to my research, these are the more qualified
candidates running for election (in Colorado,
at least): Tom Hoefling, Darrel
Castle, Evan McMullin,
Mike Smith, and Michael Maturen. There are a few others who seem like good
people, but probably couldn't handle being president. I have objections to some
of the policies of each of these candidates, Lisa of Longbournhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497065661948900794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32736072.post-20280397371622001882016-09-08T02:06:00.002-06:002016-09-08T02:06:39.995-06:00HoardingI realized a while back that I was trained to be a hoarder.
Each of my older relatives: parents, aunts, grandparents - wanted to know what I collected. I had to have an answer. Otherwise I was an incomplete person and buying birthday gifts for me would have been unnecessarily tricky.
So. I began to think of things I would like to collect. Here is a sample: tea cups, old books, Belle BarbieLisa of Longbournhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497065661948900794noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32736072.post-62098563362655477842016-09-07T16:03:00.000-06:002016-09-07T16:13:32.973-06:00Heroes
Today I was thinking about heroes. So often our favorite super heroes can save
everyone. Doc Ock tosses six
different people six different directions, and destroys the brakes on a
speeding train. Spider-Man shoots his webs to save the stragglers, uses his
super strength to stop the train, and saves the day.
In that same movie, Spider-Man decides to come out of retirement to save a little kidLisa of Longbournhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497065661948900794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32736072.post-55302573619124005962016-08-10T17:54:00.001-06:002016-08-10T17:54:40.608-06:00Across the SkyHave you noticed that many processes are interactions?
Farming and gardening are examples that involve a lot of work and initiative and dominion - but in cooperation with what "naturally" occurs: rain, sun, a branch sprouting in the wrong direction. To get good fruit, we humans both initiate and respond.
Children are raised not by a curriculum, but by attentive discipleship: when we go out and Lisa of Longbournhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497065661948900794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32736072.post-60864615792352298152016-08-05T21:59:00.000-06:002016-10-09T18:20:57.868-06:00Response to Dr. Wayne Grudem's Endorsement of Donald Trump, July 2016
A missionary I know, Cal Zastrow, said, “If the primary goal of voting is winning, instead of being a faithful
witness for Christ, then all kinds of evil grows.” I believe that as
Christians, more than being patriotic to our nation, we are called to be faithful
ambassadors of the Kingdom
of God, and to further
that kingdom. We do this, in part,
through involvement in earthly matters like Lisa of Longbournhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08497065661948900794noreply@blogger.com2